MEMPHIS, Tenn. — J.R. Smith, wearing a band-aid on his cheek, took a shot at Jerryd Bayless’ lack of size after the Memphis guard flipped his lid following a second-quarter dust up between the two last night.

Bayless and Smith got entangled and Smith raised his left elbow, clocking Bayless in the upper chest. The 6-foot-2 Bayless shoved Smith in the face and then tried to get after the Knicks guard. A livid Bayless had to be restrained by teammates while Smith backpedaled away, laughing at the scene.

“Other than me trying to get the ball, I don’t know what he could’ve been mad at,’’ Smith said after the Knicks’ 105-95 loss to the Grizzlies, their first defeat of the season. “Some small guards have a little man’s complex. They got to work that out.’’

Later in the game, Smith, who had a relatively quiet night with nine points, got called on a flagrant foul on Tony Allen after bashing his arm as he went up for a dunk attempt. It looked like a normal hard foul as Smith was trying to block the shot.

The series of incidents came one day after Smith confessed he had toned down his lifestyle.

“I was extremely shocked,’’ Smith said. “I definitely didn’t think it was a flagrant. They said I wound up and swung at him. I definitely was going for the ball. They didn’t see it that way. Hopefully they’ll take a review on it.’’

Smith received the cut in the fourth quarter on an accidental elbow from Allen.

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Tim Duncan looked at the box score Thursday night in the Spurs dressing room and saw Carmelo Anthony’s scoring line of nine points on 3-of-12 shooting.

Anthony had been averaging a league-leading 26.8 points during the Knicks’ 5-0 start before Thursday’s 104-100 victory in San Antonio.

“You assume we win that game,’’ Duncan said.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s plan was to take the ball out of Anthony’s hands, throw double and triple teams his way when he moved to the basket and let other Knicks beat them. They did just that in a statement win. The new Knicks — Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd and J.R. Smith — beat the Spurs with Anthony playing the facilitating role.

Anthony also was held to 20 points last night, but this time, the Knicks couldn’t pull it out, falling to 6-1 after a 105-95 loss to the Grizzlies.

Against the Spurs, however, Anthony played a balanced game. He ripped down a season-high 12 boards and had three assists, exhibiting his new grinding defensive game. He had a hockey assist on Smith’s go-ahead 3-pointer late in the fourth.

“A lot of people may say he had a bad game — no he had a great game, facing double and triple teams,’’ Felton said Thursday night.

Last night, perhaps because it was the second game of a back-to-back set, Anthony wasn’t a force on the glass, grabbing just three rebounds.

Nevertheless, the win over the Spurs was a positive sign for the Knicks. If the game plan to stop Anthony at all costs doesn’t work, then what strategy will work against the 6-1 Knicks?

“Yes, we made a decision to take Carmelo out of the game,’’ San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili said. “But the Knicks were just amazing shooting as they have been all season long.We’re a pretty good 3-point shooting team and we shot 27 percent and they shot 44 percent.’’

Stephen Jackson, who took turns harassing Anthony into his lousy shooting night, had the best analysis on how the Knicks can win despite Anthony scoring nine points, by far his season low.

“I think last year Melo would have forced a lot of shots,’’ Jackson said. “This year he’s trusting his teammates and it’s shown out there, especially tonight. It’s amazing how they went from two guys shooting all the balls to a team that everybody has confidence in everybody else.’’

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Amar’e Stoudemire turned 30 yesterday, making it seven players on the Knicks’ roster at least 30 years old. The rehabbing Stoudemire spent his birthday having lunch with Memphis mayor A.C. Wharton, discussing the possibility of opening a school in the depressed city.